The way things used to be
by Ilovereading
Summary: Hermione is left to grieve the way things used to be after the final battle. She soon goes to the only person she can think of who will understand. Implied HGSS


Disclaimer: Sadly the Harry Potter characters are not mine.

The way things used to be

I stared at the graves of my two best friends and wondered about the way things used to be. It had been 3 years since their deaths but the pain still had not died away with time. I had no one left to talk to, no one left who cared enough for how I felt.

The Weasleys had their own grief to deal with; they had not only lost Ron but also Molly, Bill and Ginny. That was what killed Harry, seeing Ginny die had caused him to gain magic he had not been able to handle and so when he fired the final spell at Voldemort the power had killed him as well.

I stood up at said goodbye as it was now late evening. I knew that I had to move on had to find new friends, a new job but it was so hard to give up on the life that I once had.

I decided to return to Hogwarts. Even though I knew that the memories I had of Harry and Ron were all from our time at Hogwarts I also knew that it was the last place I had truly been happy; the last place I had called home.

I walked up to the gates that at one point in my life had been so familiar. I walked into the great hall and saw the staff look down from the head table. Dumbledore looked down at me and I noticed that the ever present twinkle was not as bright as I remembered it to be. He beamed at me in welcome and offered me a seat. I took it and noticed that I was surrounded by many familiar faces, Professors Flitwick, Vector, McGonagall, Sinistra, Hagrid and Snape were still there. I smiled. Even though I knew that McGonagall would be leaving soon as I was to be taking over a Transfiguration teacher it still felt good to know that Hogwart didn't really change, it was always going to be the same and to her it was always going to be home.

After being at Hogwarts for several months I knew that I needed to talk to someone, someone who might understand what it was like to lose the people you thought would be with you forever. And then it hit me, I knew that if there was one person at Hogwarts that would understand how I felt it would be Severus Snape. It didn't matter that he didn't feel the same as I did about losing Harry and Ron; I knew that he must have always thought that no matter how old he got he would always be surrounded by Death Eaters that trusted him and followed his lead, even if he was to betray them in the end and turn his back on the Dark Lord.

The next day I made my way down to the dungeons and knocked on his office door. I heard a muffled "Enter" through the door and so walked in. Snape was sitting at his desk marking essays when he looked up at me; he raised an eyebrow and nodded to the seat in front of him. I sat down slowly and opened my mouth to speak when he said "I know why you have come." Before I could say anything he continued, "If you feel that talking to me will help you then I will listen but I can not say that you will be successful." I nodded and began to speak.

I talked for hours about how I wished I was a child once more, how life was so much simpler before I understood how cruel the world could be. I told him of the dreams I had had where I was a young girl again and I saw Hogwarts for the first time and knew that this was my home and I would never be happy anywhere else. I spoke of how I was afraid of the future and what other horrors my life would throw at me, I told him of how I wished that everything still held the same magic they used to and how I still wished I had some of the innocence I had before entering the wizarding world, before meeting the famous Harry Potter, before reading the name Voldemort and learning to fear the devil that he was, before learning that even the innocent must die to save the world from evil.

By the time that I had finished it was nearly midnight. It was then I realised that I was crying and that Severus Snape was no longer sitting in front of me but sitting on the floor (where I had at some point during my rant ended up as the tears fell freely down my face), with me wrapped in his arms. He said nothing for almost half an hour and then just as I was slowly falling asleep, still wrapped in his tight embrace, he whispered "It does not do well for us to dwell on the things that used to be Hermione. It would do us all good if we were to look to the future and allow our hearts to mend."

That night as I lay in his arms I knew that I had found the happiness that I needed to go on with my life. I knew that it was time for me to move on and make knew memories at Hogwarts. I fell asleep for the first time in three years knowing that I would no longer be haunted by the things that used to be.

A/N this was just a short fic I was inspired to write by my friend when we were talking about things that we used to do when we were younger. I enjoyed writing this fic and I hoped you enjoyed reading it. Please Review as it can really brighten a long day after school work.


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